Bucks County Show - Flower Arranging Competition

And so for the big one at the County Show - the flower arranging, and I will make no apologies for this being the most important of all the classes in the show that we entered  well how did we do - I was beaten by my own son - can you believe that!!! 

Children's Arrangement - An Arrangement in a Cup and Saucer

I was thrilled that Jamie wanted to give the flower arranging class (for children) a go and we had a few thoughts about what he may do as his class was 'An Arrangement in a Cup and Saucer'.  We had a look around for a suitable cup and saucer for him and eventually found one which was decorated with VW Camper Vans, very on trend and very suitable for a boy.  So we had a think about what type of arrangement may work in the container and I suggested Jamie may want to have a go at a gear stick which is sticking up out of the cup.  That design eventually became a flying saucer/satellite arrangement which was brilliant.

I had some of the lucky bamboo (Dracena sanderiana) left over from my demo a couple of weeks earlier and showed Jamie how to attach a ball of foam to the top of the bamboo and then show him how to base (cover) the foam ball with the button chrysanthemum and he made a brilliant job of it - to be honest his basing was better than some of the basing from some the students from the Floristry course I was on (!!!!!!)

He then added in some decorative pins to make it look like a satellite and finished the bottom with some bright pink carnations and light green conifer and  a little bit of pittospoum which matched the pins in the top of the design.  He did an amazing job and should have been rightly proud of himself, when I saw the completed design I was pretty sure he stood a very very good chance of getting placed in the competition.

When I saw the other designs in his class I was almost certain he was going to be placed well - but I wasn't letting on to him, as you can never tell quite which way the judges minds are working!!

Well of course he was placed and he got First place as his design was so fantastic - he would, had he entered the adult category also have been placed too - so I am glad he was only in the children's competition!!

An Arrangement in a Cup and Saucer - Adult Class!!

This was I felt the easiest of the classes to interpret and I decided to go for a traditional look, with a traditional cup and saucer and a very simple round posy style design, using very 'English' flowers such as carnations and freesia, playing on the whole idea of tea for two and tea-time.  I had thought about using a very large cup and saucer but decided to go very traditional.  I was really pleased with the finished design.  Some photos of my design below both in situ at the show and after the show at home.

And how did I do well I came second!! - so I was very pleased.  My certificate and comments card are below.  With a design like this it is really important to keep the flowers in proportion to the cup and saucer so I used spray carnations as single carnations would have been too big and I ensure the foliage was small enough to keep the scale of the whole design. 

My only mention here but the rules state that you have to complete the designs in situ and not bring them completed.  We were led to believe the following day from a steward that someone did bring completed arrangements to the show and that person was I believe placed in two categories - perhaps the show does need to tighten up on its procedures for the sake of those competitors like myself and the other ladies who worked in atrocious weather conditions completing our designs in situ for some 4, 5 and 6 hours.  Like myself there were other who may have been placed higher if the reports about this incident are correct.

Table Arrangement for a Wedding

Again for this design I decided to do something which would be very traditional and something which would obviously have a place as a table centre for a wedding.  I wanted to bring in some bright wedding colours, some ribbon, bling and candles and feel I did all of these things very well.  Again I was really pleased with the end result of the arrangement which is below.  Bright pink carnations and white roses make up this design, I have added some beaded wire to the outside of the candle to bring the pink through the design and add a little bit of sparkle to the arrangement.

Nor was this an incredibly expensive design and so could be used for a number of tables and would take a wedding through the sit down meal and onto the evening reception too so I felt this one covered all aspects.  The judge like it too as I got a third prize for the design which pleased me. 

A Bit of Bling

The final entry from me was in the Bit of Bling class and this was the one which was both large, difficult and very expensive as it turned out and not one to be repeated.  It was christened 'The Abomination' by me as when I left late on the Wednesday evening I totally hated it and felt it didn't look the way I had planned for it to look.  I was convinced this would be totally rejected by the judges but in the end it got a 3rd place so I was both very surprised and totally delighted.  I had been placed in each section I had entered.

 This design was in a martini glass and used cone shaped oasis which was then based in what felt like hundreds of roses - it seemed to take forever and what with the weather (torrential rain), mud (from the rain), cold (from being in a tent in torrential rain) and the poor light (from being in a tent with torrential rain!!) it was hard work!!  The really positive side of this is it has given me lots of ideas of how to improve this style of design if I ever need or want to do something like this in the future.

The judges comments were totally fair and I had not expected so much water to leak from the oasis - add that onto the learning experience too.

So overall very pleased placed in each category, did much better than last year's 2nd and highly commended and Jamie won the children's - wonderful.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 13/16 - currently reading If I Was by Midge Ure

Cardmaking

I have finally had a go at card making and quite enjoyed the process - although scrapbooking will always be my first love in papercrafting.  I am sure I will now have another go and make some more cards in due course. 

I made these with an ulterior motive too as I entered them into the Bucks County Show which is why they are all wedding cards.  I didn't get placed even though there were only 3 entries and I didn't see who won as the other two entries had gone by the time we got there to collect our bits.  (Check out the other Bucks County Show posts including my flower entries and one or two other bits from other members of the family)  The comments card is later on in the post, but you can never guess what the judges are looking for at a first attempt so I may have another go next year!!

Overall and as a first attempt I am quite happy with these - although I can see some areas which need improving - can't you always!   As for what I used Basic Grey and Doodlebug papers, Inspire Me for matting, some Papermania embellishments I had, the wording was from a K and Co sticker sheet as well as a few other bits and pieces from my bits and pieces box(!!) 

I didn't want to go for the very obvious and used very "in" colours in wedding floral work at the moment.  Black and white is very big in wedding flowers, pinks and cream are always popular and I had to have some green in there somewhere - it wouldn't be me without green!!  Good fun but I can't use these as the weather was dreadful at BCS and so they got a bit damp overnight and during the show day but I will put them into my current scrapbook to keep along with my comments card.  Roll on next BCS!!!!!!!!

Ciao

Sue
XX

Reading challenge 13/16 - currently reading If I Was by Midge Ure

Second Place at Bucks County Show Flower Arranging Competition/PTLLS Almost Finished!!

My alarm rang at 5 am this morning, I dragged myself out of bed (I am not an early riser!) and threw on some clothes, grabbed a cup of tea, got my bits together and headed out by 5.30, I was aiming to be at the show ground as near 6 as I could, I had until 8am to finish off my arrangement. I got there in good time, headed in and continued from the night before. I finished the hot side of my arrangement and started on the cool. I finished off and checked the other arrangements and left. It then took me over 20 minutes to find my way off the site, let me out of here - I thought I was going to be stuck in there.

I headed home via McDonalds where I treated us to a MacD breakfast which was a very welcome on my part. I then headed off to do a little bit more on my portfolio where I completed the assignment section. We decided we would head off to the show at about 1.00pm, judging was due to take place between 8 and 10 am, so when we got there we would be able to find out if I had won anything. The traffic when we got about 2 miles from the ground was horrendous and the last two miles took over an hour!

The Home and Garden Tent (picture zanypurr)

When we eventually got parked we headed to the Home and Garden tent to see how I had done. I had to a Second place for my Hogarth Curve and a Highly Commended for my with wood arrangement. Wow, it was my first competition and I had no idea what to expect so I was really pleased. The winners were very 'traditional' dare I even say old fashioned which made me think the judge was very into that traditional style of arrangement. My philosophy on this at the moment is I am just learning and I want to develop my own style and see where that takes me, learning as much as I can as I go.

We then had a wander around the show, there were some amazing flowers and HUGE vegetables in the home and garden tent. We saw some of the dogs very cute beagles, bassets and some others and a demonstration of hearing dogs. We wandered around most of the tents, had a bite to eat, although there wasn't much left and we felt that because of the captive nature of the audience it was a tad expensive. But we had a lovely ice-cream and I had a caramel one which was delicious, not my usual choice of flavour, but one I will have again.

Here are my certificates .....

We moved the car and then at 5.15 I collected my bits put them in the car and we came home to celebrate!! I was pretty pleased and look forward to having another go next year.

I put a couple of arrangements from the trellis in the bay window.



I think the pressure of it all is getting to Jamie .....

My winnings - I had promised Jamie he could have any winnings, if I got anything, so he was a happy bunny .....

Here he is showing off his 'tattoo', the Metallica obsession continues .....

and here it is in close-up, James would be proud!

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 8/16 - currently reading Lovers and Players by Jackie Collins
Jamie's Reading challenge 5/12 - currently reading Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by
SLYMI - 1/52

Almost Finished the PTLLS/Bucks County Show - Flower Arranging Competition

Very little else is going on for me at the moment other than making sure my course work is completed. Mike is on leave from work so he is pottering about doing his thing and keeping us fed, as I just keep forgetting! Jamie is busy playing with his friends, either at the park, downstairs or at their houses, so everyone is happy. Mike has been brilliant and done most of the washing and ironing, allowing me to concentrate but I know when Jamie gets back to school I am going to have to have a big tidy up - so it's tidy my way!


My portfolio is almost complete, I have 3 sections to complete which are the learning journals, a reflective process looking at why, how, what, when. What did I do, how did I do it, why did I do it that way, could it be improved, what worked well, what didn't work well, did I understand, what did I understand etc etc. The daily journals I have completed each day of the course so I now just need to put them into a summary format, which should be pretty simple. I have also done some journals for the theory assignments (but not for all of them) I need to write the journals and then put them into a summary document, and then the same for the practical assignments. Today I have completed the daily journals and have started working on the assignment section, I hope to finish them Thursday as I was just too tired to finish them on Wednesday.


I was too tired because in the afternoon, I got all of my kit ready, my flowers and all of the other bits I need and headed off to Aylesbury. We stopped at Mike's Mum's to leave Jamie, raid her garden of some extra bits of foliage and then Mike took me to Weedon Park, just outside Aylesbury where the Bucks County Show is being held.


Years ago I used to go to Stokesley Show in North Yorkshire, which as a child I loved. My Mum had lots of relatives in Stokesley (it's where my Grandmother's family were from) and we always went to the agricultural show, went to the fair and visited one of my Mum's Aunt and Uncles (who were very very old then) and then one of my Mum's cousins (Uncle Laurie) for tea and we had a lovely day. It also has 'fond' memories for Mike and I too, as it was one of the first places I took him in the North East and it was the first time he met my brother John and his family! It was also the place where he ate something dodgy and became incredibly ill later, it was either mini doughnuts or a roast pork sandwich! As I said at the time, Soft Southern Shandy Drinker, couldn't cope with the North!!!!!


So I wasn't sure what to expect at Bucks CS, would it be as big as Stokesley. When we pulled onto the field, we both realised it was pretty big and there was a lot going on. We got directions to the Home and Garden tent and headed over. I went in and sussed out what was going on, lots of flowers, vegetables, cakes, handicrafts etc. There were some flower arrangers already there so I worked out where I needed to be. Mike helped me unload my stuff and I set up on one of the tables near one of the spaces for one of my arrangements. I now wish I'd taken a couple of photos to get the atmosphere of the event, but I wanted to get on with my arrangements and didn't. Mike headed back to his Mum's for the evening and dinner!


Mike had made a lovely flask of coffee for me to take with me, which later was to become a great boon. I got chatting to the lady at the table next to me who was very nice and we chatted away and worked away for the next couple of hours, stopping when I'd completed my first arrangement for a coffee. As I had two mugs I shared the coffee with her and it was very welcome to both of us!



I decided to tackle the most technically difficult arrangement first and get that one out of the way, it was in the class Elegance in a Candlestick. I decided to be very traditional and do a Hogarth Curve using deep purple calla lillies. I was very pleased with how this arrangement worked and the calla lillies bent perfectly for me. I used a huge chrysanthemum as my focal flower and was pleased with the whole arrangement. I had used a clear glass candlestick and dressed the table with some black voile and white tulle and it set the arrangement off to perfection. I also added in some lisianthus and purple/red foliage to match the colour scheme. I was very pleased with it and so felt I deserved a coffee! Below is the arrangement.






The next arrangement was one in a basket, for the Arrangement in a Basket category. I had got a huge basket and thought I would go for a very strong colour scheme (red and gold) and use some medilano sticks for some added interest and to give it a more modern feel. I was also trying to emulate some of the table arrangements I had seen at the Coventry NAFAS show. So this arrangement I was picturing on coffee table. It was a straightforward all round arrangement with gold chrysanthemums and roses, red carnations and aster, lots of foliage and some gypsophilia. a bit of weaving and some beads I achieved what I wanted with the arrangement.





I left my largest arrangement to the end which was in the An Arrangement with Wood category, and this was a biggie. My neighbour had made me a pair of stands out of a piece of trellis I bought and they are a great asset to my arranging and I will get plenty of use out of them. But I was aiming for a impression of a trellis between two neighbouring gardens , sort looking through my neighbours fence as my working title in my head. There was a lot of work in it as I had to work out how to attach the oasis, which I worked out as I was going along (lots of double sided tape), get the ivy to stay on the top and sides and then make two very large arrangements at the bottom. On one side I went for hot, on the other cool.



Here is the hot side .....


I managed to complete the hot side before the light in the tent got the better of me. Everyone else had gone, there were other people about on the show ground, but the tent felt very empty. It was also very hard to work in the light as they were not the brightest and I was struggling to see, so about 9.30 I gave Mike and shout to come and collect me as I had done as much as I could and I was tired. I'd been there for over 3 and a half hours I felt I would do better in the morning when I had more light to play with. So Mike and Jamie collected me and a very tired me headed home, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

When I got home I got together what I was planning to take the next morning had a bite to eat and went to bed as I knew I had an early start the next day!

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 8/16 - currently reading Lovers and Players by Jackie Collins

Jamie's Reading challenge 5/12 - currently reading Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull by James Luceno
SLYMI - 1/52

More Course Work and Buying Flowers (Tuesday 25th August)

Today was more getting course work sorted out and completed. I've now completed the Summative Profile and tidied up some other bits for the learning journal section which I will complete tomorrow hopefully.

This afternoon it was something much more fun as I headed off to the flower wholesalers I use just the other side of Woburn Safari Park, near Eversholt in Bedforshire. I took Jamie as he hadn't been before. It is one of those places that if you are a flower arranger it is heaven on earth there is so much stuff you just want to have it all, and everything you see you think, I could use that, I could use that, and that and that. So I have to be very disciplined with myself. I had a shopping list, as I was going with a purpose, although I did spot a couple of things which will be going onto a future shopping list!

I wanted to get some sundries and some flowers as I am entering the Bucks County Show flower arranging classes on Thursday so I wanted to get my flowers and get them conditioned (let them have a really good drink) so they will be ready to work with. I ended up spending a small fortune but at this stage I don't really know how much of everything I am going to need. I tried not to have everything I was doing set in stone, as I may not be able to get the flowers or foliage that I am after, so would make final choices once I had seen what was available. Luckily I managed to get just about everything I was after either at Hillyards or at Frosts Garden Centre at Woburn Sands. But as a taster some of the flowers I am using are chrysanthemums, roses, calla lilies, phlox, carnations, asters and even a petunia or two out of the garden.

Here are some pictures of some of the things I bought, some for Thursday and some for general use. For pictures of the flowers you will have to wait and see the completed designs and see how I do on Thursday (fingers crossed). I started flower arranging less than a year ago and here I am on the eve of entering my first competition, it is so exciting!

One of the classes for the Bucks County Show is an arrangement in a basket, I bought this one as I thought I may use it, but decided on a different one I bought today instead, but this will come in very handy too, also in this picture is the biggest ball of string (ever!) which cost me less than a small one would at Hobbycraft, and I suspect I will use it up (eventually!) and a small bag of feathers, which may or may not get used on Thursday.

I totally fell in love with this basket, and it was only £1.75 I have an idea to do a rustic continental or parallel arrangement in this, it should work well.

Finally a kenzan or pin holder (85p a snip!) used for Ikebana, some copper coloured wire, feathers, candle holder and some blacks beads on wire.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 8/16 - currently reading Lovers and Players by Jackie Collins
Jamie's Reading challenge 4/12 - currently reading Rotten Romans by Terry Deary
SLYMI - 1/52